Job Search Technique #1: Do nothing, or mostly nothing. Assume that there are no jobs out there, or there are too many qualified candidates to conduct a successful search.
Job Search Tip #2: Say nothing. Never talk about being out of work or underemployed. The surest way to never get a job, is to never ask for one. The second surest way to fail a job search is to never mention to people you know that you’d like a job. If you really want to mess up your life, stay in your house and pull the curtains on the world.
Tip #3: Search online postings for 8-12 hours a day. Jobs are filled by people, not computers, so you must interact with people before you get the job. A successful job hunt might involve finding who the hiring manager and trying to contact him. But that’s a successful job search technique, so you wouldn’t want to try that! Heaven forbid that you doggedly call someone to find out who is in charge!
Tip #4: Apply for dozens of jobs a day. Is a numbers game, right? Nope. It’s a matter of conveying that you are the exact right person for the job. If you are applying for every job, then you are wasting your time and the time of the people whose jobs you are applying to. At the very least confirm that the job which you are applying to exists. An easy way to confirm that the job exists is to ask when the start date is. Sadly, not all postings are for jobs that actually are being filled.
Tip #5: Don’t bother to tailor your resume to the language of the post. Don’t bother tailoring your cover letter to the language of the posting. Its logic, isn’t it. As more and more jobs get posted on job boards, searching these millions of jobs requires a computer. How does a person search millions of resumes–by entering search words, of course. You resume should use the same language as the posting for it to show up in the search. Don’t lie, just use the same language to describe the same type work.
Tip #6: Give up. The average job search takes 3 months. If you expect to be paid more than $100K it can take 5 months. Some of the more effective job search techniques take a long time to work. Networking is best done when you still have a job, not started when you walk out the door. So don’t expect overnight results, because getting a job is about building the relationships that lead you to the right position.
